“What’s going on is that my daughter is limping down the street with a swollen ankle, carrying my grandson, because someone decided she doesn’t deserve access to her own car.”
Silence.
Linda crossed her arms. “They live here. There are rules.”
“Rules don’t include humiliation,” Dad replied. “And they don’t include stripping independence from a mother.”
Daniel shifted awkwardly. “Em, we talked about this.”
“No,” I said, surprising even myself. “You let your mother talk. I just nodded.”
Linda snapped, “I’m maintaining order!”
“Order isn’t control,” Dad said firmly. “And it certainly isn’t making my daughter feel grateful for basic decency.”
Daniel muttered, “The car’s in my name.”
“But she pays for it,” Dad said. “And regardless, no woman should need permission to leave a house.”
Linda scoffed. “She’s overreacting.”
Dad reached into his back pocket and pulled out an envelope.
“There’s a lease agreement here,” he said calmly. “An apartment fifteen minutes from here. Available immediately.”
I stared at him. “You… what?”
“I started looking when Daniel lost his job,” he said quietly. “I figured you might need options.”
Linda’s expression faltered.
Daniel looked at the envelope. “We can’t afford that.”